Objections to Magistrate's transfer and jurisdictional rulings are overruled
Forest Laboratories Inc., et al. v. Cobalt Laboratories Inc., et al., C.A. No. 08-21-GMS-LPS, August 27, 2009.
Sleet, C.J. On March 9, 2009, the Magistrate issued a report and recommendation regarding certain defendants’ motions to dismiss and, in the event jurisdiction is lacking, plaintiff’s motion to transfer. The Court overruled the objections and adopted the Magistrate’s rulings.
This is a consolidated ANDA case relating to adamantine derivatives in the prevention and treatment of cerebral ischemia. Two defendants seek dismissal on jurisdictional grounds. Plaintiff established that the case could have been brought in New Jersey. The Magistrate found that this court had no jurisdiction over these defendants. However, rather than dismissing them from this lawsuit, he severed these claims from the remaining Delaware litigation and transferred to the District of New Jersey. The Magistrate correctly found that dismissal was inappropriate because plaintiff acted in good faith in filing in Delaware. When a party mistakenly but in good faith believes that venue is proper, the interest of justice supports transfer rather than dismissal. Furthermore, the Magistrate correctly found that dismissal would unfairly prejudice the plaintiff because initiation of a new suit would deprive plaintiff of the automatic thirty-month stay of FDA approval, and would prejudice the other defendants who filed earlier ANDAs.
